/*******************************************************************************
 * Copyright 2011 Mauro Luigi Drago (drago.luigi@gmail.com)
 *
 * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
 * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
 * You may obtain a copy of the License at
 *
 *     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
 *
 * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
 * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
 * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
 * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 * limitations under the License.
 *******************************************************************************/
package com.bytenose.extrautils.patterns.builder;

import com.bytenose.extrautils.annotations.NonNullable;

/**
 * A builder of objects.
 * @author Mauro Luigi Drago
 * @param <O> the type of objects this builder creates.
 */
public interface Builder<O> {
	
	/**
	 * Builds an object of type {@code O}.
	 * The contract of this builder imposes that an object must always
	 * be returned by this method, i.e., the result cannot be {@code null}.
	 * If this constraint conflicts with the requirements, use another builder
	 * such as {@link CheckedBuilder}.
	 * @return the new object.
	 */
	@NonNullable O build();
}
